UVA bans organizer behind Charlottesville rally

The University of Virginia has issued a no-trespass warning to Jason Kessler, the organizer behind the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, effectively banning him from all university property.

The university said in a statement Friday that the “warning was issued due to multiple reports from students that Mr. Kessler threatened them, targeted them through cyber-bullying and cyber-harassment, and targeted them based on protected characteristics.” 

“Kessler also intentionally and purposefully misled officers of the University Police Department regarding the torchlight rally that he helped organize on Aug. 11. His conduct on Aug. 11 threatened the health and safety of members of the University community,” the statement read.

Kessler was a main organizer of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville last year. One woman was killed when a man rammed his car into a crowd at the white supremacist event.

{mosads}He also led a gathering on the University of Virginia campus the night before the rally, during which attendees held torches and chanted slogans like “Jew will not replace us.”

The order also reportedly came after Kessler was involved in two disturbances at the university’s law library.

Kessler, who graduated from the university and lives in Charlottesville, went to the library last week but left after students and others told him to do so and held up signs calling him a “Murderer,” The Washington Post reported.

He returned to the library on Wednesday, but once again faced protesters. One of the protesters, who was not a student, reportedly refused to leave after being asked to do so by a school administrator and was arrested.

Kessler pushed back against the allegations against him in a video Friday and accused University of Virginia students and staff of harassment, according to The Post.

“You better believe that I’m going to fight this stuff,” he said in the video. “I’m not going to let them get away with this.”